Top Secret Twenty-One: A Stephanie Plum Novel(39)

Leo looked at me from across the room, and I gave him a flirty finger wave. I felt a little bad about leading him on like this, but what the heck, he probably had a wife and five kids back in Russia, and he deserved to be lied to.

For lack of something better to do, I went in search of the ladies’ room. I adjusted my toilet paper and put on fresh lipstick. I found some hair clips in my bag and used them to secure my hair so that it wasn’t fluffing out all over my face.

“How’s it going?” I asked Ranger.

“I’m on the top floor, and I’m limited by the security cameras everywhere.”

As I ran water to wash my hands, my earbud fell out of my ear and went down the drain.

“Crap!”

I hauled my cellphone out of my bag and texted Ranger. Bad news. Your earbud just went down the drain in the ladies’ room.

It was only a matter of time, he texted back.

I left the ladies’ room, and as I stepped out into the long hallway that led to the front of the building, a man came out of nowhere, slammed me into the wall, and held me there with one hand at my neck.

“I know who you are,” he said. “Nice of Manoso to deliver you like this.”

He had a slight British accent and a skull and flower tattoo showing just above his white shirt collar. It was Vlatko. He was younger than I’d expected. Not much older than Ranger. Slightly shorter and slimmer than Ranger. More boyish-looking. In fact, he could probably pass for a college student until you looked closely and saw the network of fine lines around his eyes. A psychopath you would be inclined to trust. Ash blond hair fell over his forehead. One of his eyes was covered with a black patch like a pirate’s. The other was pale blue. A ragged scar showed above and below the patch.

I wanted to say something clever to show I wasn’t afraid, but my heart was pounding so hard in my chest it was rattling my brain, and I was speechless.

“He’s in the building,” Vlatko said. “I saw him on the outside video feed. He’s searching for me, isn’t he?” He smiled. “In many ways this is much more fun than if everyone had been infected with the aerosol.”

“Why are you doing this after all these years?”

“Convenience. I’ve kept an eye on Manoso, waiting for an opportunity to even the score and finish the job I started. And here it is. It was dropped into my lap. I had a job to do in Miami, where, as you know, Manoso has many relatives. And when my Miami job was completed I was scheduled to travel to New York. It was perfect. I convinced my superior that I would need an extra canister for a test run, and then I sourced out someone from Miami who could place the polonium for me in the Rangeman building.”

“This was a test?”

“It was a dry run of sorts to see if the polonium would work, and obviously the scheme was flawed. Truth is, we all had some doubts. Too many variables. And using an amateur to deliver a package like that is too unreliable.”

“So you’re done with Ranger?”

He gave a bark of laughter. “No. I’m only beginning. I’m going to kill him, but I’ll torture him first. I’ll let him watch you die, and then I’ll finish the work I started on him in Korea. It will be even more satisfying than the radiation poisoning I originally planned. Although polonium is a very elegant assassination tool.”

“That’s sick.”

“Not in my profession.”

“Your profession is sick!”

“You need something to show Manoso,” he said. “A small appetizer before he’s treated to the main course.”

He pulled a switchblade out of his pocket, flicked it open, and, still holding me against the wall with his left hand, slashed my right breast. The knife easily cut through the silky material of my shirt and my bra, and a huge wad of toilet paper fell out.

“Jeez,” I said. “This is embarrassing.”

“Unsatisfying and disappointing,” Vlatko said, “but consistent with the intelligence report I got on you.”

A woman left the party room and turned toward us. Two men also left the party room and walked toward the front entrance. Vlatko spun on his heel and, without another word, exited through a door across the hall.

I went back to the ladies’ room and with shaking hands pulled the rest of the toilet paper out of my bra and buttoned my suit jacket. I texted Ranger that Vlatko was in the building and I was leaving. I would meet him in front.

I left the ladies’ room and walked past the party room without even waving at Leo. He was going to have to figure it out on his own. I exited the building, and Ranger was moments behind me.

“He’s probably watching us on the outside video feed,” I said.

“I pulled the plug on the feed, but he could be watching from a window.” He looked at the suit jacket buttoned over my vastly reduced chest. “You lost some weight.”

“Long story. I’ll tell you in the car.”

Ranger gave me his keys. “Take the car and go home, and feel free to use it until I come for it. I’m going to stay and stake out the building. There’s no rear exit. He has to come out this way.”

“I can stay with you.”

“Not necessary. I’ve already asked Tank to send men. They should be halfway here by now.”

“Vlatko wants to finish the job he started in Korea,” I said. “And I think there’s something else going on. He said the episode at Rangeman was a dry run.”